LA Fires - Who's been Affected?

[slickrock]

My original hometown and foothills trail stomping grounds are up in flames and the devastation is still ongoing. While I've been safely perched on rain-soaked soil and green hills of the Bay Area that has been my home for decades now, I'm swept up by this travesty just the same. All that rain in the PNW over the last couple of months never made down to SoCal. My extended family is safe, but folks with just one degree of separation from me and them have lost their homes and livelihoods. And the trails I used to ride there will never be same. Who else of the forum has been affected that would like to share their thoughts or trail experiences out there?

 

[Zimmerframe]

It looks awful.

Emelias video's quite interesting, also showing some of the wind damage to infrastructure and how extensive that was - as well as the fires. There's a clip part way through driving through one burnt out area and another clip at the end riding through a burning area where the devastation and intensity is quite unbelievable.

 

[Zimmerframe]

Another video. 2 day old footage, so obviously it's got worse since !

Doesn't really find damaged areas until 10 minutes in.

Shot from Surron Ultra Bee - but lets try and keep and bike/e-bike/riding style conversations out of it.

Gives a bit of a feel of some of the vast area of destruction.

 

[Hobo Mikey]

I am gutted for you and anyone else who is affected by this. By blood boils when I read about peaple starting fires and looting properties, they are just scum and should be taken out. Stay safe out there.

 

[Stihldog]

I just can’t imagine the devastation. We have our share of fires up here …but nothing like that.

A few years ago we were affected by the smoke from California fires that drifted to our area. We had to stay indoors for a few days. The air quality was awful.

A lesson to be learnt is to be prepared. We live on the edge of a forest and that has become a fear. Our only fortune is that we get plenty of rain …maybe too much sometimes.

 

[The Hodge]

Sincere commiserations to all who are affected by this ..as with @Stihldog we are also on the edge of a forest ..at 250sq miles Kielder in N.W.Northumberland ,England is one of Europe's largest but as yet no fires of any note and a fairly wet climate ..
Hopefully we never have to face this kind of devastation..
Thoughts are with you ..

 

[Mabman]

Similar to the Lahaina fires in that this is affecting some of the most valuable real estate in the world. Unfathomable as to the amount of physical and emotional damage this will create. Sad.

 

[Stihldog]

I have experience fighting forest fires but never the likes of the Cali fires. Those Santa Ana winds are unbelievable.

During a forest fires I was responsible to find water, distribute water pumps, fill Bambi buckets for the helicopters, fall any flaming snags, provide first aid, and be ready to work for 48hrs straight. There is no time for panic.

It’s hard for me to wrap my head around the logistics of the Cali fires. People will be affected for years.

 

[steve_sordy]

Let's hope that those organisations that have ill will for "the West" are not taking notice of the human misery and economic devastation that can be caused so easily.

 

[steve_sordy]

I read in the media that the fire departments brush clearance plans had been thwarted by endless legal challenges, which were based upon concern for wildlife and the perception that nature was being unnecessarily damaged. This led to a build-up of the energy load in the forest undergrowth. Add in a dry summer, one spark and wham! I was very surprised to read this because the exact same thing was alleged to have happened with the devastating fires further up the coast a few years ago (I believe that @Stihldog referred to them).

Worse! The increased energy density of the undergrowth was sufficient to actually set fire to the trees rather than allow the fire to race through leaving the trees and those animals/insects/bugs/worms etc that burrow safe underground. The high intensity fire killed everything; trees, seeds, animals, the lot.

 

[irie]

From what I see and read, as in the overwhelming majority of so-called 'accidents' a number of individual factors have coincided/converged to create and spread these deadly fires. Hopefully, instead of a blame game, there will be rational post-disaster analysis to identify what these individual factors are/were. Dealing with them is the only way to prevent future reoccurrence(s).

 

[irie]

I read in the media that the fire departments brush clearance plans had been thwarted by endless legal challenges, which were based upon concern for wildlife and the perception that nature was being unnecessarily damaged. This led to a build-up of the energy load in the forest undergrowth. Add in a dry summer, one spark and wham! I was very surprised to read this because the exact same thing was alleged to have happened with the devastating fires further up the coast a few years ago (I believe that @Stihldog referred to them).

Worse! The increased energy density of the undergrowth was sufficient to actually set fire to the trees rather than allow the fire to race through leaving the trees and those animals/insects/bugs/worms etc that burrow safe underground. The high intensity fire killed everything; trees, seeds, animals, the lot.

Add in fineable excess water consumption in breach of water consumption regulations, control of waterways and reservoirs, the impact of 'rewilding', electricity distribution systems, and so on.

 

[steve_sordy]

Add in fineable excess water consumption in breach of water consumption regulations, control of waterways and reservoirs, the impact of 'rewilding', electricity distribution systems, and so on.

I'm sure it's not "simple". But I was drawn to the proposal that well-meaning "greenies" actually caused a much worse problem. Haven't native American Indians, for thousands of years, been carrying out controlled burning to keep down the scrub to prevent such an intense fire happening? They accepted that forest fires couldn't be stopped, just made less worse. But of course, the educated civilised modern folk know better.

 

[Zimmerframe]

I'm sure it's not "simple". But I was drawn to the proposal that well-meaning "greenies" actually caused a much worse problem. Haven't native American Indians, for thousands of years, been carrying out controlled burning to keep down the scrub to prevent such an intense fire happening? They accepted that forest fires couldn't be stopped, just made less worse. But of course, the educated civilised modern folk know better.

Steve, I have endless respect for you. But "simple" would then be your interpretation based on political propaganda BS would it not ??

Pine trees are full of resin, they burn HOT, fast and explosively (literally). They had 100mph winds with it ! just blow on a fire and see the results .. They have continuing high winds, the devastation is vast. One small fire left can then pick up and blow off somewhere else again (ignoring any forests).

For example - here's some dick (me) sticking a leaf blower in a fire pit on NYE for some sparky fun ..

The magnitude is incomprehensible. We might think we can control everything. But we're little. Yes, we can feck things up big time given enough time, but we can't stop/fix big things quickly with a splash of water.

Before the mods lock us all out, maybe we just stay on track with the original thread and respecting all the people involved and affected rather than us discussing crap we know noting about because we're not there.

 

[Mikerb]

The photos and videos I have seen are quite shocking and clearly the consequences for complete communities is devastating. This must surely be a wake up call to implement changes to forestry management and, it would appear, management of water supplies. Some forum members here from Australia can probably recognise some of the same issues with "wild" fires they experience.
We get some forest fires a round here during dry ( pretty unusual!) summer periods almost invariably caused by visitor setting camp fires or using disposable bbqs ........fortunately not many anywhere near residential properties and certainly nothing on the scale seen in California. Certainly if I had a property within or close to forestry I would do my own scrub clearance!!

 

[steve_sordy]

............... But "simple" would then be your interpretation based on political propaganda BS would it not ??

.................., maybe we just stay on track with the original thread and respecting all the people involved and affected rather than us discussing crap we know noting about because we're not there.

I believe that I may appreciate your exasperation/viewpoint/concern/upset with me. I do not doubt the almost incomprehensible magnitude of the event and thank the stars that I live nowhere near that area. The devastation to the citizen's lives is off the scale and my heart goes out to them. This had been well expressed in earlier posts and I had registered agreement with them.
My use of the word "simple" was not my interpretation of the situation, it was a response to @irie's helpful expansion of the complex background issues. I was agreeing that the issue was not simple. What I was seeking to do was to expand upon the issue I had raised, an issue that seemed to have happened before in another forested area. That is all. The LA Fire chief (the one with five stars on his collar) himself said that they had been battling in the courts to be able to carry out their brush clearance program.

 

[irie]

... The LA Fire chief (the one with five stars on his collar) himself said that they had been battling in the courts to be able to carry out their brush clearance program.

From what I have read the Governor (Newsom) wanted to fire the LA Fire chief.

When everything goes tits up the truth gets lost.

 

[Stihldog]

Steve, I have endless respect for you. But "simple" would then be your interpretation based on political propaganda BS would it not ??

Pine trees are full of resin, they burn HOT, fast and explosively (literally). They had 100mph winds with it ! just blow on a fire and see the results .. They have continuing high winds, the devastation is vast. One small fire left can then pick up and blow off somewhere else again (ignoring any forests).

For example - here's some dick (me) sticking a leaf blower in a fire pit on NYE for some sparky fun ..

View attachment 153122

The magnitude is incomprehensible. We might think we can control everything. But we're little. Yes, we can feck things up big time given enough time, but we can't stop/fix big things quickly with a splash of water.

Before the mods lock us all out, maybe we just stay on track with the original thread and respecting all the people involved and affected rather than us discussing crap we know noting about because we're not there.

Yup…that’s about what a large pine tree looks like. They are nasty when they’re dead and on fire. Had to fall a 3’ dead pine tree that was setting everything around it on fire. 40’ tall and was acting as a chimney, starting fires everywhere. The root system was sucking fuel at the base and sending out hot ambers.

The fighting crew watered me down and kept the water hose pointed at my first cut. My face was protected but you can’t imagine the spark-show when I began. When the burning snag hit the ground …it was like an explosion of flames.

The crews were able to quickly put out the flames. That one got the heart pumping.

 

[RustyMTB]

Fwiw @Zimmerframe I spent a fgood few years paragliding at the Dune de Pilat, along from Bordeaux, a bit south of your neck of the woods. That's an amazing part of the world, Europe's biggest sand dune on the Atlantic coast with pine forests behind & it all burnt down a few years ago. Wild fires happen, thery always have. Lumpng in the blame game while it's stil going in is distasteful to say the least. Pack it in lads, the Daily Mail comments section for you. ghouls.

Fire and destruction at Europe's biggest sand dune

In a usual July on Europe's biggest sand dune, holidaymakers clamber to its peak to admire the panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean beyond. This year, its heights are deserted, shrouded in smoke, with fire service planes buzzing overhead.

phys.org

 

[Hobo Mikey]

I think a lot of the problem was the high winds with these fires which made the fires spread quicker than the fire crews could put them out. Gutted for all the peaple who lost so much.

 

[#lazy]

When you add the lack of rain , the hottest year ever recorded (which beat 2023) and 100+mph winds this was inevitable . This is the climate crisis happening !
For someone to try blaming little fish is insane and the only thing that SMELT is orange man’s dirty diaper !
………and obviously my heart goes out to all the people who have been affected by this catastrophe event .